1937 Aero 750 Sport Coupe variant by artist Yuriy Shevchuk.
Prague artist Yuriy Shevchuk has won international acclaim on three fronts; painting architecture, jazz musicians and vintage cars. Born in Kiev in 1961, Shevchuk now works with his son Denis who manages his international and local Czech exhibitions and negotiations among the customers and the online e-commerce. Wallace Wyss recently interviewed Yuriy, while the Editor combed the vast number of paintings displayed on his website, focusing on the cars.
We chose unusual cars which are rarely seen anywhere, much less in art, those that might appeal to VeloceToday readers, and finally the paintings that simply excelled with color and line and emotion. We urge you to take a good look at his many works, and at the same time note that some are listed as already sold, or on commission. We’ll let Wyss take it from here.
By Wallace Wyss
Yuriy, where were you trained?
Education
. art school (age 7- 16) (1968 – 1977)
• Academy of architecture in Kiev, Ukraine (age 17-23) (1978-1984)
• Interior design
In what media do you work?
Watercolor is the main technique, but I also work with the other basic art techniques such as pastel, oil, acrylic and modern digital art.
Do you do a lot of research to find pictures of cars for reference?
I visit numerous retro car shows in Europe such as Retromobile Paris, Retro Classic Stuttgart, Techno Classics Essen where I exhibit my artwork and in my spare time I walk around and photograph details of exhibited cars.
I also like to go to the race tracks such as Le Mans Classic or Spa Classic competitions where I can find those vehicles in a movement and capture desired composition on a race track or the tension in the paddocks.
I constantly upgrade my library with books about those races and cars. Sometimes I am lucky and get access to archives and original photos that have never been published or are in private collections of the museum. For example for a race 1000 Czechoslovakian 1000 miles race which is reincarnated from the 1933 – 1935 timeframe to the modern era, I am providing each year official race and promo poster and materials.
For the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, I painted a picture of the Mercedes W 113 280 SL called the Pagoda, which also made it into the official book about this model. I was careful to make sure that all the details in the painting matched. For example, the hubcaps had to match the year and the model. Only five hundred copies of the monograph were printed and today the book is hopelessly out of reach and kept among collectors of this model.
What is your favorite automotive painting and why?
My favorite painting is Ferrari 156 “Sharknose.” This artwork was commissioned by 20th Century Fox for the movie Ford vs. Ferrari (Le Mans 66). It was in the scene where Lee Iacocca comes to Modena to see Enzo Ferrari in his office with a proposition to buy Ferrari and gets refused. The painting is on the wall in the background.
“Sharknose”
Do you drive a sportscar?
I do not own a sports car. But from time to time very kind people, usually the organizers or directors of the races, lend me cars from their collections so I can compete in the races I create poster designs for. For example I have driven a Skoda 1101 Tudor (1947), a Ford V8 (1935), a BMW 3.0 CSi (1975),a Triumph Gloria Supercharged Special (1936), and a Packard 533 (1927).
How have sales and auctions been in the U.S.?
My work hasn’t been in any auction in the USA as far as I know but there is plenty of my original artworks in private collections of customers that have commissioned my work or have bought it online from me. Like for example Ford GT 40 (1966) which was commissioned by a US customer in 2016 and is one of my largest produced original so far, 100 inches by 40 inches. Price was 7000 USD including shipping cost to the US. However, I had several successful auctions in Czech Republic with Czech customers.
What is your highest price achieved so far?
Highest price was achieved with the biggest artwork for a Slovak customer. Dimensions 120” x 80”. Price 9000 USD
Where can our readers correspond with you, and what’s your website?
Gallery of artist Yuriy Shevchuk: Artists Homepage
Shevchuk Gallery as selected by the Editor
Alpine at Monte Carlo, 1971.
1947 Tatra 87 Hanzelka Zikmund across Africa Kassala Sudan
F40 Ferrari
1935 JAWA 750 coupe 1000 mil Ceskoslovenskych
Dutch Grand Prix, 1967
1922 Bugatti Type 13 Brescia
1972 Rallye Monte Carlo Lancia Fulvia 1600HF Munari Mannucci winner.
Thank you for bringing this artist to our attention and for having avoided needless reference to international politics. When the history of western art in the 20th & 21st Centuries is written a ways down the road, it is my opinion that automotive fine artists will be counted among the shining lights of the era. Keep the revs up!
John Kuhn Bleimaier
this is, to my aging recollection, the equal of the best automotive artwork i’ve ever seen. i can’t remember the other artist at the moment, but there’s nobody better than this artist! as they say, your mileage may differ!
I found this artist a number of years ago on the internet and purchased two wonderful pieces, an overhead 3/4 view of a Maserati 250F and scene very similar to a famous photo of Fangio and his Alfa 158 being fueled I believe at the British Grand Prix. Only wish I had the “Sharknose” driven by you-know-who! In any case, can’t say enough about the artistry, I’ve enjoyed them immensely.